This application relates generally to processor-based systems, and, more particularly, to image acquisition and processing techniques implemented in processor-based systems.
Processor-based systems that once required a roomful of electronics are now routinely implemented in handheld processor-based devices such as smart phones. For example, a smart phone may include cellular and/or wireless radios that operate according to conventional standards and/or protocols. A smart phone may also include processors, memories, multi-touch screens, cameras, Global Positioning System (GPS) functionality, 3-axis gyros, accelerometers, light sensors, and other functionality. The functionality of the smart phone can be used to create software applications that are conventionally referred to as “apps”.
Customers and retailers have found that smart phones can facilitate communication about particular products before, during, and after purchase. Smart phones can therefore enhance the customer experience and help retailers to increase sales. For example, retailers can advertise their products and provide customer service before, during, and after purchase of the product. However, easy access to online product information via smart phones may cause brick-and-mortar retailers to lose customers. For example, a customer may come into a store to “kick the tires” of a product such as a television before deciding whether to purchase the television. The customer may also use their smart phone to do online product research and/or price research, e.g. using one-dimensional bar codes and/or two-dimensional quick response (QR) codes that identify the product. If the price research reveals a lower price, the customer may decide to purchase the television at a different store or online. The retailer may therefore lose the sale even though the retailer provided the in-store experience that convinced the customer to purchase the television.
Retailers can combat the tendency of customers to leave the store in search of lower prices by providing enhanced customer service, which may be facilitated by communication via smart phones. However, brick-and-mortar retailers may not be able to exploit all the capabilities of these devices because communication between the retailer and a customer may be disrupted if the customer's smart phone loses access to the cellular communication system when the customer enters a building. In this situation, customers can only gather the information encoded in one-dimensional barcodes and/or two-dimensional QR codes.